ɪᴛ's ᴏᴋᴀʏ... [ᴇɴɢʟɪsʜ ✓]

14. Guilt

Each shot cost her another piece of the strength she had so painstakingly regained and soon no longer possessed.

So far, two droids had fallen through her defences. Two.

Normally she would have been arguing with Anakin about the 76th by now, but no. She had gotten two. Just two simple battle droids.

And she hadn't even had the triumph of seeing them shatter into their component parts or topple backwards with a headshot.

Only flickering blackness enveloped her vision, the red welts in her eyes had degenerated into spots.

Rex didn't know about it, or he would hardly have let her continue to fight. She endangered herself the most when she dodged shots to protect her brothers instead of blocking them.

Finally Windu gave the signal for the clones on the rock walls to start their maneuver.

Ahsoka could no longer see, and hardly knew up from down due to the dizziness, but she could faintly sense those around her. The pain, however, remained in the foreground.

The quick, powerful and jerky movements had torn the crust.

The Togruta tried not to scream at the painful tugging that increased in strength every second. But she still had to hold on. Until the end of this battle.

Only there seemed to be no end. For now. The clones were failing in their attempt to destroy the tanks, which one by one were destroying the heavy guns.

Suddenly Ahsoka felt pain flare up inside someone, it was.... Master Windu?!

Her eyes flew to the Jedi, even if she could only make out a pale shadow.

And immediately she regretted her inattention, her own pain forcing her to the ground.

A droid had hit the exact spot where the armour had torn a hole in her side a few hours ago. The delicate red strands that had begun to close the wound again were burned apart.

And she was even less fortunate, for the narrow shot was not wide enough to slow the heavy, internal bleeding; on the contrary. The destruction of the freshly recreated capillaries only dispersed more of the red fluid throughout her body.

Gasping for air, she felt her way along the small boulders behind a larger rock, in front of which she had been swinging her lightsabres only seconds before, now hanging back on her belt, one with a red covered hilt.

Hot blood pounded through her veins as she slid her back down the rock, panting.

***

Windu allowed himself a glance at the younger Jedi in the fray and instantly felt a burning sensation in his right shoulder.

His attention immediately returned to the battle, not paying much attention to the faint bullet wound.

If he hadn't looked around for that copy of Skywalker, no droid would have got him either.

He cursed himself for his guilt-driven action. But those feelings only intensified as he felt cruel pain coursing through him.

Not his own, the girl's. She lay on the ground with her back against a rock, breathing brittly. The older Jedi could feel her mind drift briefly in pain.

Her pulse slowed and Windu actually succumbed to the temptation to come to her aid. But he changed his mind and pushed the compassion aside as she regained consciousness.

Rex knew he would not be able to help her now. For if he abandoned his post to check on her, they would lose the entire left half of the battlefield. Every single soldier counted.

So he couldn't send someone else to see her either.

It almost killed him to watch her drag herself into cover after she had been hit. The droid whose weapon had hit her target was immediately eliminated by a shot from the Captain.

Anger boiled through him, anger at the Seperatists, the tank, the droids, General Windu.

"It's not as bad as it looks, is it?"

"It's worse!", he should have yelled back. This idiot.

An explosion finally made him turn his full attention back to the battle.

At last the ambush was having its effect. Enemy tanks blew up, droids were cut down and a pile of rubble alone was left.

"Come on, men!", Rex shouted to his brothers with a prompting wave of his blaster. As they rushed past him to chase off the last of their enemies, he ran to Ahsoka.

They could finish the battle without him.

The girl lay huddled on the ground, the bandage soaked in blood that was squeezed out of the wound at her side in thick drips. He wondered where all that blood was coming from anymore.

"Hey, Rex", she brought out in agony, looking up at him. She had sensed his presence. She could recognise his signature among thousands.

The clone returned her gentle gaze and looked pityingly into blood-traversed eyes.

And at that moment they heard a loud roar and a gunboat touched down not far away.

"Help me up", Ahsoka ordered him with determination and pain in her voice.

"But...", the clone tried to protest as he was also about to help her up.

Still better than her trying to do it alone. For she had taken it into her head to limp to that gunboat.

To Kix, who was emerging from behind the open shields.